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Please do not post details of scarce breeding birds (those included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, amended 2000). Any such reports will be removed. Please list rarest sightings at top rather than alphabetically. Note that records submitted here may be added to the London Natural History Society database for use in the London Bird Report; by posting your news here you are agreeing to have your records copied by the LNHS recorder. Monday 5th July 2010 * Brookmill Park Lewisham: 2 Mallard, 4 Moorhen, 5 Coot, 1 Black-headed Gull, 10 Woodpigeon, 3 Swift, 2 Ring-necked Parrakeet, 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Wren, 4 Dunnock, 5 Robin, 12 Blackbird, 3 Song Thrush, 3 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 6 Great Tit, 2 Blue tit, 3 Jay, 2 Magpie, 1 Carrion Crow, 4 Greenfinch. (Conrad Ellam) * London W1: Black Redstart in the normal perches, calling loudly 0845-0940 (Francis Tusa) *Wormwood Scrubs: (06:30-08:00) Kestrel over Braybrook woods, 2 Pied Wagtail + 1 juv on playing fields, G S Woodpecker + singing usuals (2 Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, Wren etc), 2 Meadow Pipit. Reed Bunting heard but not seen. Cormorant, 6 Swift. (Charlie Farrell) *Crayford Marshes: Whimbrel, 2 Common sandpipers, 5 Rook, 4 Oystercatchers, Redshank. (Kev Jarvis). *Paddington Green: singing Grey Wagtail early a.m. (Des McKenzie). Sunday 4th July 2010 *Ashtead Common: Crossbill heard calling, Purple Emperor seen from various sites across common + many Silver Washed Fritillary & White Admiral. (Dave Kiddell) *Borehamwood: Dark-green Fritillary in the beer garden of The Battle Axes public house along Butterfly Lane this p.m. (Des McKenzie, Joanne Biscomb). *Brent Reservoir: Common Buzzard over at 09.45, also Green Sandpiper (Brent Birders). *Forest Gate (Gull watch - formerly known as on my roof) 12:30-17:30: Common Tern (over south and carrying food!), 100 Starling, 61 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 17 Black-headed Gull, 11 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, c.100 Swift (all points of the compass), 46 Carrion Crow, 7 Magpie, 45 Wood Pigeon, 6 Collared Dove, 1 f Sparrowhawk and only 11 Cormorant... so I am off down the flats to get me some more (Nick Croft). *Fulham Reach: (Thames) c50 Black-headed Gull (inc 1 juv), 1 Sand Martin, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2 Herring Gull, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Cormorant; 29 Canada Goose, lots House Sparrow calls in back streets; 1m Peregrine (Nathalie Mahieu) *King George V Reservoir: 1 Little Egret (very shy, flew off somewhere), 200+ Tufted Duck, 1 Common Tern carrying fish to William Girling Reservoir. (Katy M.) * London Wetland Centre: Greenshank, 3 x Little Ringed Plover, 3+ Common Tern, G C Greebe with young, c10 Sand Martin (Charlie Farrell) *Lonsdale Road Res: 2 Shoveler, 5 Teal, 1 Kestrel, 5 Sand Martin, 2 Swift (M Bourne) *Paddington Green: m Peregrine Falcon in area since at least 15:00, singing Grey Wagtail (DMc). *Stoke Newington Reservoirs: Common Sandpiper (West Res), female aythya hybrid (see yesterday), 10 Black-headed Gulls, 15+ Common Terns, plus the usuals (Mark Pearson Hackney Wildlife) *Tufnell Park N7 (Anson Road) juv Sparrowhawk in bird bath for 10 minutes, then on TV aerial. Also male kestrel past. (Adrian Platt) *Wandsworth Park: ad Yellow-legged Gull on barges, plus usuals incl 1s GBB, 10+ House Martin, 2 Stock Dove, singing Grey Wagtail (Matthew Palmer) *Wanstead Flats: More frogs at the round pond (and 2 biggies), naff all except Mipits, Skylark, 1 Black-headed Gull and some Swift, too many people spreading their rubbish and setting fires... ...nearly forgot 5 Cormorant (joy!) (Nick -misanthrope-Croft). *Wanstead Park (aah relative peace!): Hobby over Shoulder of Mutton on 3 occasions at dusk, Sparrowhawk down by the allotments, family of 4 Green Woodpeckers, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, families of Whitethroat, c. 10 singing Song Thrush, Great Crested Grebe (on Heronry), Little Grebe, Grey Heron, 3 Cormorant (woo hoo!), 5 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Stock Dove, 1 Ring-necked Parakeet (Nick Croft) Saturday 3rd July 2010 *Aldenham Golf Club: Hobby over c19:45, singing Chiffchaff (Des McKenzie). *Barnet Underhill: Red kite low west along Dollis Brook at c09:30 (Ian Woodward) *Brent Reservoir: 2 Little Ringed Plover & 4 Lapwings; also 7 White-letter Hairstreaks, 23 Marbled Whites, 27 Ringlets among 16 species of butterfly (Brent Birders) *Brookmill Park, Lewisham 05.30: 1 Heron, 1 Cormorant, 5 Mallard, 3 Moorhen, 5 Coot, 5 Woodpigeon, 12 Swift, 4 Wren, 2 Dunnock, 4 Robin, 16 Blackbird, 3 Song Thrush, 1 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, Blue & Great Tit flock, 40+Starling (leaving nearby roost) 3 Jay, 4 Magpie, 3 Carrion Crow, 3 Greenfinch. (Conrad Ellam) *Paddington Green: pr Peregrine Falcon in the area to 09:30, Grey Wagtail (Des McKenzie, Nick Tanner). *Rainham Marshes: Whimbrel, 3 Yellow-Legged Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 8 Little Egret, Grasshopper Warbler (reeling), 2 Cetti's Warbler, Shelduck with 7 ducklings (on south bank), f Cuckoo... large bull seal going out with the tide... ...and there would have been more but they chucked me out at five... (Nick Croft). *Stoke Newington Reservoirs: two Aythya hybrids, often together - female Common Pochard x Tufted Duck (as yesterday and also 10th May), plus moulting male Common Pochard x Tufted Duck, superficially v similar to scaup sp. (possibly same as bird present here on 26th February); also further build-up of aythyas and dabblers, juv Coal Tits and Goldcrests, plenty of dragonflies and damselflies inc. many Common Blue, Azure and Blue-tailed, Emperors, Four-spotted Chaser and Black-tailed Skimmer. Evening - Hobby hunting, 7 Small Tortoiseshells (Mark Pearson Hackney Wildlife) Friday 2nd July 2010 *Wanstead Flats (05:00-11:00): Wood Sandpiper (again v. briefly on Alex), Common Sandpiper (stayed for a couple of hours before the traffic of dog walkers, joggers got too much), Common Tern (over Alex to the west), 88 Cormorant (over), 31 Black-headed Gull, 16 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Herring Gull, 2 Common Gull, 21 Ring-necked Parakeet (over north), 15 House Martin, 2 Sand Martin, c.100 Swift (over the whole Flats), 16 Mistle Thrush, 3 Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, 11 Jay, 5 Magpie, c.20-30 Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, 3 (or possibly the same) f Sparrow Hawk (once carrying food to the cemetry), 8 Greater Spotted Woodpecker, 4 Green Woodpecker, 2 Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting, Long-tailed Tit, Blackcap, C. Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit, Skylark... and I'll let you off the rest (Nick Croft). More frogs exiting round pond. *Bedfont Lakes CP: At least 35 Common Tern chicks present. (Adam Cheeseman) *Black Park: five or six Siskins '''NE of lake, including a singing male and juvenile, confirming breeding in the London Area (Dominic Mitchell) This comes as no surprise to this hugely under-recorded & somewhat neglected site, well done DM (Jon Ridge). *Duke's Meadows, Chiswick: 3 Whitethroat (2 juv), 2 Stock Dove, 10 Woodpigeon S, 2 Pied Wagtail, 3 Chaffinch, 5 Goldfinch over, 1 Blackcap singing, 1 Common Tern over, 1 Sand Martin feeding above river, c15 Swift. (Louis Freeland-Haynes) *Forest Gate (05:00): Song Thrush (first for years, and years, probably the very first to sing) just north of my flat on the Romford Road (Nick Croft). *London W2 (location withheld): m Black Redstart accompanied by at least 1 juv between 08:45 and 10:15 (Des McKenzie). *Marble Arch Roundabout - mobile (but lame) cock Pheasant, present at 10.00. Colleagues have phoned RSPCA to see if they can attend, although bird looks reasonably happy, and last seen posing for tourists' photographs.(Dave Jordan) *Paddington Green: pr Peregrine Falcon in area from 14:40; fem with a kill (DMc). *Pinner Park Farm: 2 Common Buzzard, one over Hatch End at 17:50 & one picked up about two miles out over Old Redding at 17:51-18:00, both seen from the main pond although neither birds ticked for the patch. Also 1 Hobby, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Little Owl, 8+ House Martin, Swallow family & 15 Swift (Jon Ridge). *Crayford Marshes: 5 Yellow-legged Gulls, Little owl, male Corn Bunting, 2 Common Terns, Common Sandpiper, 7 Rook. (Kev Jarvis). *Willows Farm Pool: 2 Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, 2 Lapwing, 2 Pied Wagtail, Grey Heron. (Steve B) *Rotherhithe: pair of Common Terns feeding single chick on Surrey Water; also 8+ Common Terns (including 2 juveniles not locally bred) and 80+ Black-h Gulls on River Thames (Richard Bonser) *Tyttenhanger GP's: 4 Oystercatcher (2ad+2Juv), 5 Redshank (2Ad+3Juv) Ruddy Shelduck, 9 Common Tern. (Steve B) *Brookmill Park, Lewisham: 1 Heron, 5 Mallard, 5 Moorhen, 5 Coot, 6 Woodpigeon, 3 Wren, 1 Dunnock, 2 Robin, 4 Blackbird, 2 Song Thrush, 1 singing Chiffchaff + at least 2 more in with a flock of Blue, Great & Long-tailed Tits, 1 Starling, 5 Magpie, 2 Carrion Crow, 6 Goldfinch & 6 Greenfinch. (Conrad Ellam) *Stockwell House Estate and Community Garden: back from shop 2:45pm, noticed friendly Kestrel sitting on above balcony Video Clip here then with Juvenile Magpie (Michael Mac). *South Norwood Lake: Peregrine Falcon, 3 mute Swan, pair Great Crested Grebe, 12 Tufted Duck, 3singing Blackcap, 2singing Chiffchaff 2singing Song Thrush, Goldcrest, 6 Common Swift, 2 House Martin, 3 Nuthatch, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 4 Ring-necked Parakeet, 6 Long-tailed Tit, 1singing Coal Tit, 3 House Sparrow, (John Watson) *Stoke Newington Reservoirs: hybrid female Common Pochard x Tufted Duck (presumably same bird seen here on 10th May), Great Black-backed Gull, plus the usuals (MJP) Thursday 1st July 2010 *Crossness: adult '''Black Tern lingering off Golf Centre late morning, female Ruddy Shelduck still on foreshore east of Golf Centre (Kev Jarvis per JA). *Wimbledon Common: c12 Common Crossbill west over Brook Cottage, some calling, 0915 (Adrian Podmore, David Wills). *Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe (east end of dock near floating pub): Great Crested Grebe with loop of plastic tape trapped round its body. RSPCA contacted, anything else I can do to help? (Philip Lowden) *London W1: singing black redstart (James Astley) *Pinner, Cannon Lane: 1 Grey Wagtail along the River Pinn (JR). *Pinner Park Farm: 1 Little Owl in the disaster area still, 5+ Swallow, 4 House Martin, 10 Swift, 6 Grey Heron, 3 Mistle Thrush, 7 Black-headed Gull & 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker (Jon Ridge). *Smithfield Market, 1800: pair of peregrines thermalling before heading off south (James Astley) *Stoke Newington Reservoirs: 31 Common Terns, 14 Black-headed Gulls (mainly West Res), 113 Coots, juvenile Coal Tits and Goldcrests, 9 Grey Wagtails, plus the usuals (Mark Pearson) *Wanstead Flats (07:00-11:00): 69 Cormorant, 27 Black-headed Gull, 17 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Herring Gull, 10 House Martin (including a family group of 7 - the parents already collecting mud for a new home), 1 Sand Martin, c.30 Swift, 7 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush, 7 singing Meadow Pipit, 7 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat (briefly heard in hedge east of Long Wood), 3 singing Chiffchaff + young, 3 Blackcap, 2 m Reed Bunting, Greenfinch (with young in tow), Chaffinch, 2 Goldfinch, c.20+ Jackdaw, 6 Jay, 4 Green Woodpecker, 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, Kestrel, Little Grebe, Long-tailed Tit (family group in Long Wood), Skylark (including 1 collecting for a nest), 2 Collared Dove. A second exodus of the small pond by froglets was under way this morning - hundreds of the little critters surprisingly creating little interest from predators (Nick Croft). *Hampstead Heath Pond No 2: f Mallard with 8 ducklings, grabbed a Common Tern and was pushing it under the water, luckily the tern was released and seemed undamaged, tern was diving for bread thrown in by a mother with child for the ducks the tern was taking the bread and got too close and thus the Mallard grabbed it, I thought the tern was a goner (Michael Mac). *Kenwood: Singing Common Whitethroat, 1 Treecreeper, pr Green Woodpecker displaying in meadow, singing Chiffchaff (Michael Mac). *Brookmill Park, Lewisham: 1 Heron, 3 Moorhen 5 Coot, 4 Woodpigeon, 1 Collared Dove, 1 Dunnock, 2 Robin, 3 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, Blue&Great Tit flock, ! Starling, 1Jay, ^ Magpie,1 Carrion Crow, 3 Goldfinch, 4 Greenfinch, 1 Chaffinch. (Conrad Ellam) *Bushy Park: 3 Little Owl in North of park (RG) Archived News